US/UK citizens marrying in the UK

[viridian]

Hi all,

I'm a UK citizen and my partner is a US citizen. We have been together for two years; we first met on a dating website, and she has recently finished her postgraduate studies in the UK and is currently finishing out her student visa which expires at the end of January. During the last year we have lived together in England, and would have no trouble proving that our relationship is genuine.

We have agreed that we want to get married to make it easier to apply for residency in one or the other of our countries in the future. We would like to do this before her student visa expires so as not to have to go through the process of applying for a Fiance visa, but are unsure whether this will be possible. According to the visa website, she has 90 days to leave the country from the expiry of her visa.

Just to be clear, it is not our intention to immediately apply for her to remain in the UK - I am currently living on a research stipend and she is currently seeking employment, so it is unlikely that we would currently meet the income threshold. But we want to get married now to ensure greater security for our relationship when we do decide which country we want to settle and work in.

I would very much appreciate any advice people can offer on our situation, particularly as to whether we would have time to go through the process of being married in the UK, which I understand can take up to 70 days if a Home Office investigation is required.

[Casa]

You're correct in your understanding that the notification period for a marriage which involved a foreign national can be extended to 70 days by the Home Office in order to interview you both if they choose to do so.

However, not all couples will be interviewed and the HO may give permission for the wedding to go ahead within the standard 28 day period.

You are only able to register the intent to marry with a Home Office designated registry office.

You appear to be aware that marriage alone won't enable your wife to remain in the UK after her current visa expires.

[ohara]

According to the visa website, she has 90 days to leave the country from the expiry of her visa.

Make sure she doesn't overstay her visa! It'll cause her no end of problems in the future, including a 10 year ban on any citizenship application she may have ambitions for in the future

[viridian]

Thanks for your response Casa.

Ohara - just so I'm understanding correctly, does "overstaying" in this case mean staying more than 90 days from the expiry of the visa (which gov.uk says is the legal limit, though I may have misunderstood) or staying at all past the visa expiry date?

[Petaltop]

Thanks for your response Casa.

Ohara - just so I'm understanding correctly, does "overstaying" in this case mean staying more than 90 days from the expiry of the visa (which gov.uk says is the legal limit, though I may have misunderstood) or staying at all past the visa expiry date?

It is not OK to overstay. Those that do this are playing fast and loose with their immigration status, for any country.

At the moment an overstay of more than 28 days is a refusal of Brtiish citizenship for 10 years. When they brought that 28 days limit in, it also affected all those who had overstayed before that date, even if they had already submitted their application for BC months before.

There is nothing to stop the UK from reducing that 28 days for BC again in the future.

For visas, I thik they have just done away with this 28 days as it sent out the wrong message. To apply in country if will soon be 14 days and ONLY if the secretary of state thinks they had a good reason for that overstay.

[viridian]

Thanks for your answers. So if I am understanding all of this correctly, it would be unwise for my partner to overstay her visa past even a day?

My questions, then, are:

1) Are we allowed to get married while she is here on her Tier 4 visa?

2) If the Home Office did extend our notification period to 70 days, that would very likely push us just past the end of her visa, even if we registered today. Does that mean that, in this case, it would not be possible for us to marry? And crucially, would rejection have any affect on future marriage plans either in the UK or abroad?

3) If, however, the Home Office does not extend our notification period, we would legally be able to marry between now and the end of January?

I'm just trying to get this as clear as possible. We absolutely do not want to break any laws or put my partner's chances of returning to the UK as a visitor or potential citizen in jeopardy.

[Casa]

Thanks for your answers. So if I am understanding all of this correctly, it would be unwise for my partner to overstay her visa past even a day?

My questions, then, are:

1) Are we allowed to get married while she is here on her Tier 4 visa? Yes, assuming the HO have given clearance for the wedding to go ahead.

2) If the Home Office did extend our notification period to 70 days, that would very likely push us just past the end of her visa, even if we registered today. Does that mean that, in this case, it would not be possible for us to marry? And crucially, would rejection have any affect on future marriage plans either in the UK or abroad? Doubtful that the HO would give permission if it was evident that the wedding would be after the visa expiry date, leaving your wife as an overstayer.

3) If, however, the Home Office does not extend our notification period, we would legally be able to marry between now and the end of January? Yes, see point 1.

I'm just trying to get this as clear as possible. We absolutely do not want to break any laws or put my partner's chances of returning to the UK as a visitor or potential citizen in jeopardy.

[viridian]

Thank you Casa. So if the HO denied permission on this occasion (due to the 70 day extension / visa expiry scenario) would this damage our chances at future visa/marriage applications? Essentially what we're wondering is, do we have anything to lose by attempting to get married before her visa expires, even if ultimately this is not possible?

[Casa]

No it won't affect a subsequent visa application.

[viridian]

Thanks for all your help.

[ohara]

Worst case...they do not grant permission to marry (as visa expiry is too close). She comes back on fiance visa and you get married and she switches to FLR(M). Or you go get married somewhere else, like the USA, and then she comes back to UK on spouse visa.